Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar: How Self-Education and the Pursuit of Passion Can Lead to a Lifetime of Success [Hardcover]

James Marcus Bach (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 8, 2009

"A Buccaneer-Scholar is anyone whose love of learning is not muzzled or shackled by any institution or authority; whose mind is driven to wander and find its own place in the world."

The volatility of the job market and the limitless opportunities afforded by the internet have forever changed people's attitudes about schooling. In this world of rapid technological development, people are becoming successful, making money and finding personal satisfaction through non-traditional means. Ideas have become more important than training; innovation is more important than credentials. The ability to educate oneself -- to learn how to learn -- is crucial.

James Bach, the son of bestselling author Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull,) understands that. Like so many young people, James struggled in school, eventually dropping out at age sixteen. A few years later, he was leading a team at Apple Computer. Now an internationally recognized expert in the field of computer software testing, James has written Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar: a groundbreaking book that shows how anyone can create their own education on their own terms. It is nurturing our individual curiosities and relishing the learning process that will lead anyone -- from children struggling in school to professionals looking to jumpstart their careers -- to success.

In his unique pithy and anecdotal style, and combining his personal story with proven methodologies, James describes the relentless, whimsical, low-intensity learning process he calls "buccaneering." Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar demonstrates that it is the people who chart their own course, who never stop learning, who will come to dominate this new world.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (September 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439109087
• ISBN-13: 978-1439109083
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is an informative and entertaining account of how to acquire a great education and a good job without classroom instruction or, as Bach puts it, how to become a buccaneer scholar. At 20, he became the youngest technical manager at Apple Computer and probably the only one whose highest academic credential was—and still is—an eighth-grade diploma. Now in his 40s, Bach runs a successful consulting business, and his work has been assigned reading for students at Stanford and MIT. As this book makes clear, Bach is also a gifted teacher. The steps along his road to achievement are detailed in clear chunks. Anyone looking for an instruction manual on how to get a high-quality education without having to show up for classes will find all they need here. The book may also be a healing balm to parents whose children are struggling in school, providing both with helpful tools. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"In straightforward language, James Bach details his methods, which could convert America's million-plus yearly dropouts into a new source of national wealth." -- JOHN TAYLOR GATTO, author of Weapons of Mass Instruction, former New York State Teacher of the Year

"Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar is about the thrill of taking responsibility for your own thinking. James Bach demonstrates that the pursuit of intelligence is what makes you intelligent, more than any inborn IQ or formal certification. His story is shameless, reckless and inspiring while his unique methods transfer competency to every reader. Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar is a wicked smart book about becoming wicked smart." -- STAN SLAP, president/CEO of slap, an international consulting group

"An informative and entertaining account of how to acquire a great education and a good job without classroom instruction...a healing balm for parents whose children are struggling in school, providing both with helpful tools." -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (September 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439109087
• ISBN-13: 978-1439109083
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Marcus Bach is an expert in the field of computer software testing who has taught critical thinking and software testing to rocket and nuclear scientists at such places as the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He lives in Eastsound, Washington with his wife and son.

In addition to the books he has authored and co-authored. James has also contributed chapters to several technical books including The Gift of Time, Edited by Fiona Charles, The Testing Practitioner by Erik van Veenendal, Visual Basic for Testers by Mary Romero Sweeney, and Essential Software Test Design, by Torbjörn Ryber.

Twitter:

@jamesmarcusbach

Websites:

http://www.buccaneerscholar.com
http://www.satisfice.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Inspiring and Valuable Book, But Use with Caution September 15, 2009

By Irfan A. Alvi TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

In this book, James Marcus Bach, son of Richard Bach (author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull), tells us a lot about his rather atypical life and what he's learned along the way. Skeptics might question his motives and speculate that he wants to prove or promote himself, but I appreciate his candor and willingness to share, and I'm willing to grant that his main motive is to sincerely help the reader.

In reading the book, it quickly becomes evident that Bach is indeed his father's son. He dropped out of high school and never went back for formal education, but he was intelligent and motivated, so he managed to chart his own passionately self-directed course of intellectual development and built a career as a recognized expert in software testing.

Here's a summary of most of the key "secrets" he offers for a "lifetime of success":

a. View yourself as an evolving work in progress which you're responsible for creating (Nietzsche had the same idea).

b. Education must be lifelong and customized for your needs and desires, so learn to educate yourself by scouting and using the vast array of resources at your disposal (books, the Web, peers, etc.).

c. Work on "authentic problems" which engage you, rather than artificial problems which have no significance for you.

d. To sustain passion for learning, go with the flow of what engages your curiosity, is fun, and fits the natural rhythms of your mind. In other words, engage in "low-pressure learning."

e. When possible and helpful, let yourself procrastinate so that your creative subconscious mind can help you solve problems.

f.... Allocate some "disposable time" to meander and try things (or do nothing) rather than always following a rigorous schedule.

g. To increase overall productivity, work on multiple projects in parallel.

h. Try alternating between complementary learning activities, rather than getting stuck with just one approach.

i. Learn by experimenting, contrasting ideas with each other, constructing stories, and engaging in various forms of "play."

j. Tame complex problems by employing systems thinking, using models and heuristics, and building understanding and expertise step by step.

k. Use your area(s) of expertise as a gateway to learn things relevant to many other areas.

l. Don't worry about forgetting things. Forgetting clears up mental clutter, and you can always re-learn what you forget.

m. Recognize that much learning is a side effect of what you do, so try to learn something from every situation and experience in your life, including your failures.

n. Don't let institutions hold you back, and be prepared to challenge authority and the status quo when necessary. Believe in yourself, don't judge yourself too harshly, and don't be intimidated.

o. Aim to succeed based on the quality of your work and the resulting reputation you build, not diplomas, degrees, and other paper credentials.

p. Rather than aiming to do what's popular as a career, be willing to carve out your own unique niche, since you only need enough work to support one person (assuming that you don't necessarily want to build a large business).

q. Recognize that charting your own course requires willingness to face major challenges and risks.

r. Learn to separate aspirations and expectations, keeping expectations well below aspirations.

s. Recognize that you're part of a community and that service to others (love) has a lot to do with giving your life meaning. Learn from others while also helping them by teaching.

I share some traits with Bach, so I resonate with his story and I'm sympathetic to his ideas (I already apply most of them). And of course he obviously feels that his approach has worked for him. But we still need to ask how widely his "success secrets" can and should be applied by other people. In that regard, I do think that nearly all of his ideas will help most people, although I see some key limitations:

1. I think Bach's disdain for formal education is somewhat misguided. I too have issues with academia, and it's true that formal education can be stifling, but it can also foster considerable intellectual and general personal growth, especially at the university level, where students can substantially shape their education in an individualized way while still managing to get good grades. After completing well over 200 credits at undergraduate and graduate levels, that's certainly been my experience, and I think Bach is simply unqualified to properly judge university education because he's never experienced it firsthand.

2. Some of Bach's work habits revolve around doing what you enjoy, which makes general sense. But this can be taken too far, since unwillingness to be disciplined, make sacrifices, endure pain, and delay gratification will often lead to impulsiveness, self-indulgence, superficial learning, and inability to achieve anything really substantial. For example, looking at education again, there are many subjects which can only be mastered through disciplined and rigorous study spanning several years, including grinding through many tedious homework problems (sorry, not everything can be "fun"). A university education is the best (or only) path to achieving that mastery for most people.

3. I think Bach also goes too far in dismissing the importance of "paper credentials." Not unreasonably, such credentials do help open career doors, and most people can afford to spend at least four years of their lives and the associated dollars to get a university degree for that purpose (state universities are fine if money is tight). Moreover, in some professions, especially where public safety is involved (like medicine and civil engineering), college degrees and professional licenses are prerequisites to practice those professions, and that's entirely appropriate. By contrast, Bach's field of information technology largely deals with a manmade and rapidly changing logico-technical world focused on commercial applications, so it's atypical in particular ways that make formal credentials much less important while making self-directed study quite effective. Paper credentials are likewise less important in the arts and in business but, again, these are exceptions to the rule.

4. Being a "buccaneer-scholar" doesn't necessarily have to conflict with a more mainstream life trajectory. One can divide up one's time and do both in a complementary way. That's what I've done for many years, and I've found it to work well. After all, people can and do wear many hats, and you can get a lot done if you don't waste your time.

All of this said, I want to emphasize that I greatly enjoyed this book and I'm grateful for Bach's writing it. I certainly picked up some useful new ideas and I'm genuinely inspired by Bach's personal story. Therefore, I do highly recommend this book to anyone with a significant desire to take a self-directed approach to their life, provided that the limitations I've noted are kept in mind. This is ultimately a book which can help many people, and I predict that it will change some lives fundamentally.

Readers who enjoy this book may also enjoy Five Minds for the Future by Howard Gardner and HOW WE READ: Passion for Knowledge Disciplined by Subtle Turns of Strategies and Tactics 2nd Edition by Rong Fan. Also be sure to check out Truth Imagined by Eric Hoffer for an autobiographical story with a similar feel. Read more ›

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Idiosyncratic August 26, 2009

By Michael Gunther

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

James Bach is a high-school dropout who achieved a successful career as a consultant and trainer in the field of software testing. In "Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar," he shares some of his thoughts about his career, his self-education, and his general philosophy of life. Note the repetition of the pronoun: this book is all about *him*. Examples: "Other minds exercise my thinking and applaud my exploits," "My mind is free," "I can learn on purpose while also creating opportunities to learn by accident," "If I try to understand, but fail, that's progress."

I wanted to give the book a positive rating, because I agree completely with the author's core advocacy of constant lifelong learning. However, in reading it I was put off by the book's random organization, banal mottoes, relentless self-promotion, and ranting against formal education. I think it is likely to appeal almost exclusively to readers who share the author's unorthodox cognitive style and point of view. In short, it was written by a maverick drop-out to be read by other maverick drop-outs. If that fits your situation, you might enjoy reading it.

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars What It Takes To Be a Buccaneer July 23, 2009

By Kevin Currie-Knight TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The original title for this book was School Kills. While James Bach changed the title, there is still some of this very message in his book. Bach is not as anti-school as he is a believer that the best learning is that a person does on their own because they want to.

Secrets of a Buccaneer Scholar alternates between chapters outlining Bach's theory of learning (a very Montesorrian free-flowing approach) and autobiographical chapters detailing his fall from high-school as a drop out to his rise in the computer world - all due to the kind of self-motivation and passionate learning he was disallowed from in high school. At times, Bach can come off as a bit cocky and conceited, like when he tells us of memorizing hte first 41 digits of pi just for kicks (reciting them for us again), or when he explains why he doesn't "know how to talk about things that don't matter." (kindle edition, loc. 1798)

I have mixed feelings about this book, especially as a teacher. One the one hand, I was and am very much one of the buccaneers Bach talks about. I coasted in high school, went to a non-academic music college, discovered learning on my own, read constantly, and now have two masters degrees and am in pursuit of a PhD. Bach is certainly correct that the best learning - that which is often discouraged in school - is that which one does passionately on their own.

On the other hand is the question that Bach does not much address as to whether this approach would set as many kids up for failure as success. It is evident from Bach's book that he was strongly motivated and had an uncanny sense of self-discipline.... I have met too many students whose motivations (for anything) was low enough that I would not trust that if they guided their own education, they would come up short of what they needed. Also, there is a question which has existed ever since Montessori pioneered the student-directed education theory about whether students should be the judge of what information they will need to learn. Self-education may be a good idea for some, but do others have the motivation and forethought required to guide their own education? These are open questions that I found to be unconvincingly handled in Bach's book.

Whatever your take - or if you don't have a take at all - this book is an interesting read. Bach is very open and introspective, and writes in a very inviting first-person style. And for those interested in hearing Bach's view of education applied (dare I say) systemically, check out Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling. Read more ›

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Who's smarter? July 23, 2009

By Jon Bach

Format:Hardcover

I'm James' younger brother Jon.

James is a high school dropout. I have a Bachelor's Degree.

Who's smarter? Who's had more opportunities? Who's more successful?

Those who would ask those questions might find value in this book, because intelligence, opportunities and success are not measured by who's had more schooling, but how we approach and apply the education we build for ourselves.

For example, James and I both have successful careers in software testing, but it is James who is more famous and sought-after as a speaker, writer, and consultant. He also has a much more impressive resume, having lectured to PhDs and nuclear scientists.

This book is his story about the learning techniques he has discovered (and invented) in creating an education for himself without any schooling.

Two years ago, he showed me an early draft of this book and asked for suggestions to help him show what he has learned about learning -- for example, how school actually *prevented* him from learning -- and how he has crafted his own education since dropping out in 1982.

I hoped I could help him with his book as much as he helped me develop and thrive in my software testing career. He knew I was a journalism major and an author, but he also knew that my main skill was to ask a lot of questions (the major skill of software testing, by the way).

One of my suggestions was to talk about the advice he gave to a class of borderline dropouts in 1990, encouraging them to quit if school wasn't teaching them anything to their satisfaction. He recounts the questions they immediately asked him ("How did you get Apple Computers to hire you without a degree?..."), and the advice he gave them ("Don't worry about diplomas or degrees; just get so good that no one can ignore you.")

He also recounts the horrified reaction of the teacher (who asked him to speak in the first place) when he said "If you're not happy, leave this place."

I suggested he start with that as the first chapter because I was there with him in 1990 when he said those things and I remember how inspired I was. I was fresh out of college with my degree and I was nearly broke and homeless, sleeping on his couch. I did not want to be a reporter even though I trained for four years at the University of Maine to be one. Instead, I wanted to write a book. But there I was with James way back then, talking to these kids and finding myself agreeing with him that having a degree doesn't matter if you're not passionate about what you learn or what you do.

This book is James' account of how he sailed his curiosity and passion for learning like a single-masted sloop, instead of staying aboard the large, slow, garbage scow that school was for him. You may not like what he has to say, but no matter your education, your economy, or your intelligence, there may be treasure for you in this book if you sail with James for a little while. Read more ›